WATCH: Fish 1-on-1 with J.J. Barea at Mavs camp

DALLAS - Rick Carlisle respectfully calls him "our last vestige to the championship team.'' Teammates jokingly call him out for being short. J.J. Barea is recovering from a torn Achilles. But Dallas Mavericks vet Barea is proud to call himself something else: "Ready.''

Barea is entering his 14th NBA season, the 35-year-old guard coming off an Achilles tear sustained last January. The rehab was supposed to take time, and even on Monday, during the Media Day, coach Carlisle suggested that JJB might have to ramp up slowly as camp opens.

Barea politely disagrees in our 1-on-1 interview, terming himself "ready from Day One,'' and indeed, on Tuesday, in the first practice session, Barea participated in most of the workout. (There was also good injury news on Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Delon Wright; that story is coming up as part of DallasBasketball.com's All-Access Practice Report.

#Mavs injury stuff from first day of camp: Porzingis was good to go, Hardaway full, Barea went thru most of practice. Wright (hamstring) was limited. Good start. pic.twitter.com/ivs0asUSyb
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) October 1, 2019

At the time of the injury, JJB was playing at a high level, as he averaged 10.9 points and 5.6 assists in 19.8 minutes per game. With the ascent of Luka Doncic, the acquisition of Wright and Seth Curry, and the development of Jalen Brunson, it's hard to know exactly where to pencil in Barea.

"He's very important,'' Rick said. "J.J. is our last vestige to the championship team, as a player. ... There's nothing like championship experience:"

.@luka7doncic busts chops at #Mavs Media Day: ‘Hey, @jjbareapr ... I found a ball for you!’ pic.twitter.com/HC65fzkNXT
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) September 30, 2019

Barea appreciates the compliments and he laughs at the jokes - here's Luka grabbing a mini-ball and announcing that he's finally found one that's JJ's size - but he is planning on something more than all of that.

He's planning on being "ready.''